We Got Up Close And Personal With The Aston Martin AM-RB 001

As we're sure you're all aware now, Aston Martin has pulled the wraps off the AM-RB 001, a car as advanced and extreme as its project name is clumsy to pronounce after a couple of drinks. What you probably aren't aware of, though, was that the huge crowd of Aston Martin employees also attending the event made it a struggle to get any photos of the damn thing during and after the presentation. As a result, we're pretty pleased with the snaps we got of the new Aston Martin hypercar and the info we managed to glean from seeing it up close.

Considering the car itself has been so meticulously designed, we decided to place some focus in our photo captures on some of the more noteworthy details of the vehicle. For instance, we're especially amazed by how tightly packaged the underside of the AM-RB 001 is, aping the bodywork layouts of the Le Mans Prototypes that the track-only version of the Aston aims to match in terms of outright pace. What also struck us was the lack of any prominent air intakes on the upper body for the high-revving V12 engine. There are bound to be plenty of cooling ducts on the underside, but it was still a surprise to see a long-standing supercar styling convention seemingly dropped here.

For a car that's blatantly geared up as an innovative McLaren P1 slayer, the AM-RB 001 features quite a few styling cues that we've seen before on other Aston Martin models. You can just about make out the top outline of the trademark grille design. The "floating silver" roofline elements and protruding front fenders help forge more visually obvious familial ties between this extreme supercar and the DB11 grand tourer and DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo concept car, respectively. The Aston Martin AM-RB 001 is bound to receive a few more cosmetic tweaks before customer cars are delivered in 2018. But, as it stands now, we're as far from being dissatisfied with the car's current shape as you can possibly be.